Martha Stewart Parent Sequential Brands Shares Soar After Earnings Beat

Sequential Brands Group Inc. shares soared nearly 15% in Thursday trading after the company reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Sequential Brands portfolio includes Martha Stewart, Ellen Tracy, yoga brand Gaiam and Jessica Simpson. Net loss was $1.18 million, or 2 cents, compared with a loss of $1.08 million, or 2 cents, for the same period last year. The company took a $6.7 million charge related to costs associated with the chief executive's departure, which included $3.2 million in severance and $3.5 million in on-cash stock-based compensation expense. Adjusted EPS was 9 cents, exceeding the 3-cent FactSet consensus. Revenue for the quarter was $39.4 million, up from $34.0 million last year and ahead of the $37.0 million FactSet estimate. Sequential Brands also announced Thursday that its Martha Stewart brand had entered into an agreement with QVC to launch new products. Sequential Brands reiterated its guidance of full-year sales of $170 million to $175 million. The FactSet consensus is for $171.2 million. Sequential Brands shares are down 38.3% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 16.4% for the period.